The Beat of Passing Wings

Golden-Cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia). Found only in the cedar-clad hills of the Edwards Plateau. Habitat: cedars, oaks; also streamside trees.

—The Birds of Texas

Soon this small bird, native only to Texas, may be just a footnote in an ornithology textbook—another species that failed to adapt to man. One of its last retreats is Meridian State Park, a 461-acre tangle of cedar breaks and cactus populated by rattlesnakes, red-spotted toads, tarantulas and a steady flock of hardy bird watchers who come to catch a glimpse of the warbler. Now the local Lakeview Recreation Association plans to build a nine-hole golf course right in the middle of the warbler's nesting ground.

The only thing between the bulldozer and the birds is a suit filed by an odd coalition of six conservation groups and the N.A.A.C.P. Seeking a federal court injunction, they charge that the golf course would be de facto segregated because few local Negroes could afford the $100-a-year membership, plus fees. The case will be heard this month, but thus far the vision of green fairways seems to outrank either the black man's cause or the yellow bird's fate.